What does it take to build a boutique hotel from the ground up while staying true to your values?

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke Freeman was interviewed by Isaac French, founder of Live Oak Lake, for an honest conversation with Isaac's community about developing The Red Hotel, a 22-room boutique hotel in Morrison, Colorado, just 1.4 miles from Red Rocks.

Zeke walks through the full journey. A contingent land contract, a planning board denial after nearly a year of work, town halls and door knocking that turned the project around, power delays, inspection setbacks, and the real numbers behind a roughly $7 million build. Then the conversation goes deeper. Zeke shares how a season of burnout, a hard week of phone calls, and a tragedy in his own community reshaped the way he thinks about design, family, and why the spaces we build matter.

What You'll Learn

• Learn why a land contract contingent on site plan approval can buy you time and reduce risk on raw land
• Discover how town halls, door knocking, and simply asking "what does this town want?" turned a denial into an approval
• Understand the real cost breakdown of a 22-room boutique hotel, from land and soft costs to FF&E
• Explore how an SBA 504 loan, investor equity, and a debt signer partner came together to finance the project
• Hear why The Red Hotel is designed as a base camp that connects guests to local guides, trails, and Red Rocks
• Find out how setting boundaries for family actually earned Zeke more respect from clients

There's a lot packed into this one, from deal structure to the deeper why behind hospitality. Grab a coffee and listen to the full conversation.

Connect with Isaac French:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaacjfrench/
Website: https://www.liveoaklake.com/
Website: https://www.isaacjfrench.com/

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is now available.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

For more information about the book: https://radicalhospitality.life/

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

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Two summers in, the biggest lesson from Lost Fork Base Camp is that guests will tell operators what they built, if operators are willing to listen.

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke Freeman walks the property on Guanella Pass with Skyler Moore to see how the project has evolved since they last sat down at the start of operations. Skyler shares why they pulled the camping, why the RV sites underperformed, and how A-frames built on the existing RV hookups became a guest favorite. They talk through what worked better than expected, like the community fire pit, the shared grill, and a buffalo grass lawn that keeps people on site all day. He's also candid about what he'd change, from digital thermostats to the studio layout. And they look ahead at the next phase: nine more acres, thirteen more A-frames, and a venue space for weddings and gatherings.

What You'll Learn

• Learn why mixing campers and luxury cabin guests created friction, and what replaced the campsites
• Discover how hot tubs became both the top operating expense and the top reason guests book
• Understand the small design choices Skyler would repeat, like concrete floors and quality windows, and the ones he wouldn't
• Explore how shared amenities like the fire pit and grill turned into the social heart of the property
• Hear how Lost Fork balances on-site managers, third-party management, and automated check-in without hovering over guests
• Find out how weddings, concerts, and a writers' retreat are shaping the next phase of growth

If you're building or running a small hospitality project, this is an honest look at what happens after opening day. Give the full walkthrough a listen.

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is now available.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

For more information about the book: https://radicalhospitality.life/

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

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What if future guests could help fund a hospitality project before construction is complete?

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke Freeman is with Mark Pecota, founder of LaunchBoom, to explore how hospitality developers are using crowdfunding and pre-booking campaigns to generate capital, validate demand, and build an audience long before opening day.

Mark shares how LaunchBoom evolved from launching consumer products on Kickstarter into helping boutique hotels, glamping resorts, and experiential hospitality concepts raise significant pre-booking revenue through guest deposits and discounted future stays. Together, they discuss the mechanics behind hospitality crowdfunding, the role of renderings and storytelling, how developers can test market demand before building, and why some projects generate hundreds of thousands of dollars before a single guest checks in.

For anyone exploring creative alternatives to traditional debt and equity financing, this conversation offers a practical look at a rapidly growing funding strategy.

What You'll Learn

• Learn how hospitality crowdfunding differs from traditional investor-backed fundraising.
• Discover how pre-booking campaigns can generate revenue before a property opens.
• Understand why small guest deposits can become powerful indicators of market demand.
• Explore how renderings, visuals, and storytelling help sell an experience before construction is complete.
• Hear how hospitality projects like Cosmos generated over $1.9 million in pre-bookings through crowdfunding.
• Learn how developers can use pre-launch data to refine concepts and reduce risk before construction begins.

Listen to the full conversation for practical insights on crowdfunding, guest demand validation, and innovative hospitality funding strategies.

Connect with Mark Pecota
Website: https://www.launchboom.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpecota/

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is coming this September.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

Join the waitlist: https://radicalhospitality.life/join

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

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Most people work their way up into boutique hotels from short term rentals, but Sujay Mehta came at it from the other direction, and that changes almost everything.

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke Freeman sits down with Sujay Mehta of Bloom Ventures in Columbus, Ohio. Sujay spent years in the branded, flagged hotel world before pushing his portfolio toward boutique, experiential hospitality, and he brings a rare mix of operations discipline and creative ambition. They talk about chasing corporate demand instead of only leisure guests, building ancillary revenue around the rooms, and why he believes nobody will ever care about your property more than you do.

Sujay shares how he learned operations by working night shifts and driving the guest shuttle, why your first deal should probably be an acquisition, and how owning a cluster of properties in one market unlocks real economies of scale. Zeke adds stories from the Red Hotel in Morrison and a mountain project at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.

What You'll Learn

• Discover why boutique hotels can win corporate demand that leisure-focused owners miss.
• Learn how to build ancillary revenue with bars, local restaurant partnerships, merch, and white-labeled wine.
• Understand why nobody cares about your property more than you, and what that means for self-management.
• Hear how Sujay turned a $44,000 repair quote into a $4,500 fix in one hour.
• Explore why your first hotel deal should be an acquisition before you ever try a ground-up build.
• Learn how working the night shift and driving a shuttle taught him operations no SOP could.

There is a lot more in the full conversation, from a golf resort with a vineyard to a private member social club. Give it a listen.

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is coming this September.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

Join the waitlist: https://radicalhospitality.life/join

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

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Most people think the hard part of a short-term rental is buying it, but the real work starts the day a guest checks in.

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke Freeman was with Tim Hubbard, founder and CEO of Corzly and host of the Short Term Rental Riches podcast. Tim got into real estate sixteen years ago chasing financial freedom, bought his first short-term rental in California eleven years ago, and slowly turned a remote operation into a business that now supports owners and managers across more than fifty cities. He runs it all from South Brazil with a team spread across the globe.

Tim and Zeke get into what it really takes to operate rentals well, where AI helps and where it still falls short, and the honest lessons from Tim's boutique hotel project in Medellin. It is a practical, grounded conversation about operations, technology, and building hospitality businesses that last.

What You'll Learn

• Learn how Tim structures a fully virtual team into four focused groups that keep operations running smoothly
• Discover the partnership model that lets owners keep their brand and their listings while handing off the day-to-day
• Understand exactly where AI helps in guest communication and where it still needs a human
• Explore the real numbers and setbacks behind a boutique hotel build in Colombia
• Hear why good reviews, not good marketing, decide which properties win in a crowded market
• Understand what to check before you ever invest in real estate in another country

If you own, manage, or dream about short-term rentals, this conversation is worth your time. Listen to the full episode with Tim Hubbard on the Radical Hospitality Podcast.

Connect with Tim Hubbard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-hubbard-str/
Website: https://corzly.com/

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is coming this September.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

Join the waitlist: https://radicalhospitality.life/join

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

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Bruce O'Neal chased money through his whole twenties, hit every goal he set by 27, and still woke up empty for six months straight.

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke Freeman sits down with Bruce O'Neal, founder of Manna Worldwide, at the organization's headquarters in Dallas. What started as one small calling has grown into 247 projects across more than 40 countries, including schools, nutrition centers, clean water initiatives, and medical clinics.

Bruce shares the whole arc: growing up poor with an alcoholic father, building a successful exotic flooring company, finding faith at 27, and then selling everything to become a missionary in Japan and the Philippines. He opens up about the first feeding center that began with 10 kids and grew to 250 in three months, the motto that drives everything he does, the discipline that keeps Manna's overhead near 5%, the Mango Tree coffee shops that fund the mission, and why he handed leadership to his son Keith while he is still around to mentor him.

What You'll Learn

• Learn why chasing money left Bruce empty even after he reached every goal he set.
• Discover how one feeding center for 10 children grew into 247 projects worldwide.
• Understand why staying long-term matters more than short bursts of generosity.
• Explore how Manna keeps overhead near 5% while most nonprofits spend close to half.
• Hear how a coffee shop became one of the busiest in Denver and funds hungry kids.
• See why Bruce built the organization to outlast him and handed it to his son Keith.
• This one goes deeper than a business conversation. Listen to the full episode to hear Bruce tell his story in his own words.

Connect with Bruce O'Neal
Website: https://mannaworldwide.com/

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is coming this September.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

Join the waitlist: https://radicalhospitality.life/join

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

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Most people hear Padre Island and think spring break, but two developers are quietly turning it into one of the most interesting hospitality markets in the country.

In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, Zeke sits down with Tiffany Zhou and Chris Kilcullen to compare the North and South ends of the longest barrier island in the world. Chris walks through Whitecap Resort, a 240-acre master-planned resort near Corpus Christi with canals for direct Gulf access, a fully automated boat storage facility, a world-class marina, and hundreds of homes entitled for short-term rental.

Tiffany shares what is happening on the South side, where SpaceX and Starbase are pouring billions into the Rio Grande Valley and reshaping a historically overlooked border region. Along the way they get into cheap land, fast permitting, designing for real guests, the value of getting in the room with people who scare you, and why being early is still the best edge an investor has.

What You'll Learn

• Learn why Padre Island is being called one of America's most overlooked hospitality markets
• Discover how White Cap is turning 240 acres into a waterfront destination with direct Gulf access
• Understand how SpaceX and Starbase are changing real estate on the South side
• Explore why fast permitting and low land cost give Padre a real advantage over Colorado, California, and Florida
• Hear how Tiffany runs a full-cycle design, build, and operate model for short-term rentals
• Learn the networking and risk-taking habits that helped both guests build their businesses

Connect with Tiffany Zhou
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-zhou-design/
Website: www.tiffanyzhou.com

Connect with Chris Kilcullen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-kilcullen/
Website: https://www.avisonyoung.us/

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is coming this September.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

Join the waitlist: https://radicalhospitality.life/join

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

Follow, Rate & Review...

In this episode, host Zeke Freeman sits down with Tim Ensmann, founder of the Boutique Hotel Fund and managing partner of the Pine Tree Hotel. Tim shares how he went from investing in short-term rentals to building a fast-growing boutique hotel business.

Many investors start with short-term rentals, but Tim Ensmann believes boutique hotels create a better path to long-term wealth. In this conversation, he shares how his team transformed an underperforming hotel into a profitable business using strong branding, direct bookings, social media marketing, and group experiences. He also talks about the mistakes they made during renovations, why marketing should start before opening day, and how they are applying those lessons to build an even bigger boutique hotel portfolio.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why Tim shifted from short-term rentals to boutique hotels
• How direct bookings increase profit and reduce OTA dependence
• The marketing strategy that filled hotel bookings before opening
• Why group bookings create more predictable revenue
• How to use social media to grow a hospitality brand
• The biggest renovation mistakes to avoid
• Why investor expectations matter during hotel development
• How to decide whether boutique hotels fit your investment goals

Connect with Tim Ensmann
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-ensmann/
Website: https://boutiquehotelfund.com/

Zeke Freeman's new book, Radical Hospitality, is coming this September.

The book explores how to build cool stuff, serve a lot of people, and create lasting wealth, and how hospitality can be the vehicle for all three.

Join the waitlist: https://radicalhospitality.life/join

Grab the free Radical Hospitality Starter Kit → root-ad.com/starter

Connect with Zeke Freeman:
Instagram: @zekefreeman_rootarchitecture and @rootarchitecture
YouTube: @rootarchitecture
Facebook: @RootArchitectureandDevelopment
LinkedIn: Zeke Freeman
X/Twitter: @zfreemanroot

Ready to get started with your hospitality project?
https://root-ad.com/

Get in Touch: Stay connected with the Radical Hospitality podcast for more episodes exploring the intersection of architecture, design, and unforgettable guest experiences.

Follow, Rate & Review...